A Love Story Condensed Into Time Stamps
by Falkreath
Summary: A text sends to Luffy at 4 am that obviously isn't meant for him. He replies. This somehow is what eventually gets him a boyfriend.
1. (1) New Message

Hello there! This is a modern au HEAVYILY ZOLU fic based off the prompt of getting a wrong number text and then their relationship escalating...this fic is mainly inspiried from the Inuyasha fic, Wrong Number Text. :D

SO YEAH. ONTO THE FIC. btw i'm secretly another one piece fan who's posted fics before but y ou all will NEVER KNOW BC I'LL NEVER REVEAL WHO I AM. i might one day but anyway onto the fic. it's unedited and was written at like 4 am. idk how many chapters there will be just know they're gonna be relatively short. yes.

disclaimer: i don't own one piece

* * *

 _(4:46 A.M)_

 _oi where's the kitchen_

Luffy is awoken to the sound of an airhorn next to his ear, courtesy of his text message notification. He groans and slaps his phone, as if that'd solve anything, wondering why the fuck he was getting a text as ass o clock in the morning when whoever is texting him could be doing something better: sleeping. But no, sleep is apparently not allowed, because just as he's shoving his phone under his pillow so he could ignore it, another airhorn noise.

Luffy briefly wonders why he never changed that sound from when Usopp set it up as a joke, and in this moment? He regrets having the sound of an airhorn as his text notification. The simple thing he could do right now is that he could easily just turn off his phone and chuck it on the floor for some well needed sleep, but whoever was texting him was being insistent, as there is another airhorn alerting him of yet another text.

 _(4:48 AM)_

 _also can u please get ur fucking boots out of the hall I just tripped_

 _(4:50 AM)_

 _and btw we're out of booze_

Luffy blinked at the brightness of his screen, reading this number and these texts very carefully. His first thought: Why would anyone keep toilet paper in a closet? Why not under the sink? His second thought: who even WAS this number?

It's stil 4 am and Luffy is half awake by now, so he figures there's only one way to solve this. Clicking on his message button, he types back:

 _(4:54 AM)_

 _WHY ARE YOU AWAKE AT THIS HOUR also why can't u find that kitchen? and who texts about booze at this hour!_

Luffy chucks his phone onto the floor after that.

"You're late again, Luffy!"

Luffy trudged up to Usopp, glaring at him through heavy eyelids. Honestly, he wished he could have skipped school today, but Sabo insisted that he HAD to go. Even when Luffy whined and tried to bat his long eyelashes and a puppy eyed look at his brother, all that happened was he got grabbed by the ankles and tugged straight onto the floor. Usopp, upon seeing the murderous glare and feeling the blood thirst radiating off one exhausted Monkey D. Luffy, uncrossed his arms and regarded his friend with a frown.

"What's up with you? Didn't sleep?" Usopp asks as they walk in their first class, seeing Luffy rub his eyes with the heel of his palm.

"I got woken up by some weird text really early and had trouble going to sleep after that. Then Sabo woke me up and I barely had time to get ready properly…" Luffy explained, sliding into his seat and pulling out a small pocket mirror to see how disheveled he looked. "I didn't even have time to eat breakfast…"

Usopp gasped and leaned back, "Monkey D. Luffy?! Skipping breakfast?! Is the world coming to an end as we know it?!"

"Shut up Usopp, I'm so hungry! When's lunch? I'm STARVED." Luffy whined, frowning at himself in the mirror before shutting it and shoving it back into his bag.

"It's not for like…another 5 hours. Sucks for you, man." Usopp prodded him in the arm and Luffy just groaned, slamming his head on the desk. Stupid phone guy at 4 am. What was his problem anyway? Not knowing where a kitchen was at 4 in the morning…what an idiot, really!

Luffy's phone vibrated in his pocket.

 _(7: 33 A.M)_

 _wtf are you talking about sanji_

 _and I still need booze_

"Who's that?" Usopp asked, noticing Luffy frowning at his phone.

"The guy who woke me up at 4 in the morning. I think he's got a wrong number." Luffy tilted his head slightly, reading over the word 'Sanji'. It sounded so familiar…yet, from where? "Should I text him back?"

"You could always mess with him."

Luffy hummed, fingers already tapping away at the keyboard on his screen.

 _(7:34 A.M.)_

 _I'm not sanji! Who's that?_

 _Also, do you have a drinking problem?_

 _(7:34 A.M.)_

 _look nice try but it's not working_

 _and no u know I don't_

 _(7:35 A.M.)_

 _But I really don't know who you are!_

 _Or who sanji is. I do know that I'm hungry and you probably need rehab._

 _(7:35 A.M.)_

 _Are u fucking kidding me_

 _(7:36 A.M.)_

 _No, I really am hungry._

 _(7:37 A.M.)_

 _Shit. U really aren't sanji are u_

 _(7:37 A.M.)_

 _Nope! This is a new phone for me. Your friend probably had it before then I bought and now here we are._

 _(7:38 A.M.)_

 _Fuck._

Luffy dropped his phone back into his bag after reading the message from the Mystery Stranger, glancing up at the teacher who just waltzed in 10 minutes late. Putting his head down as soon as the teacher started to talk, Luffy closed his eyes and prepared himself to fall deep into a well needed, 50 minute sleep.

After having a dreamless nap, Luffy was awoken to the sound of books being slammed onto the floor. The noise caused for him to jump, waving his arms frantically and almost falling out of his chair at the shock of the sudden loud noise.

"About time! You weren't waking up for anything!"

Luffy blinked multiple times, fully becoming his aware of his surroundings now that someone (a girl, from the sounds of it) was trying to talk to him. He looked around, stopping on the form of Nami standing above him, his bag on her shoulder. "Nami?" He questioned.

"Yes, you idiot. The bell rang like 3 minutes ago and you still haven't moved from your desk." Nami explained, putting her hands on her hips and looking exasperated. "Don't you have another class to get to? Usopp already left after trying to wake you."

Luffy hummed, standing up and stretching. "I think I'm gonna skip it. I'm exhausted."

"Luffy? Exhausted? I didn't think those two words could go together."

Luffy frowned at her, crossing his arms now. "I didn't sleep well. You know what I'm like if I can't get to sleep after being woken up. And then some guy just texts me and wakes me up and I barely had time to get my last hour in. I was so tired I couldn't even get ready!" He complained.

Nami took in his appearance. Rumpled shirt, wrinkled blue shorts, hair left unbrushed and face void of any use of any type of product. Definitely a sign of Luffy being late this morning. "I can tell." She commented.

"Why do you have my bag, anyway?" Luffy reached over and took it off her shoulder, slinging it over his own.

"It was vibrating a lot. I think someone's trying to text you. Anyway, you better be off to take a nap until Lunch. Don't let Sabo know that you're skipping." Nami waved a hand, going to find her seat as Luffy laughed about the thought of Sabo finding out his class-skipping habits.

Jogging down the hallway and out the doors to a small hidden area behind the gym, Luffy plopped down on the ground and sighed happily as he laid down in the grass, using his backpack as a pillow, ignoring the ringing of the tardy bell. No teacher was going to make him get up, no way.

Just as he was about to close his eyes and sleep until he sensed the lunch bell, his backpack vibrated. More specifically, the phone in his bag. Luffy groaned.

 _(8:32 A.M.)_

 _do u kno the number of the guy who had the phone before?_

Staring at the words on his screen, Luffy reluctantly slid his finger across them and unlocked his phone. Might as well reply, then nap.

 _(8:32 A.M.)_

 _Why would I know that?_

 _(8:33 A.M.)_

 _just a thought I had I guess_

 _(8:33 A.M.)_

 _Well I don't know, oh well!_

 _(8:33 A.M.)_

 _how'd u even get his phone, anyway?_

"This is seriously getting in the way of my nap." Luffy grouched as he typed again.

 _(8:33 A.M.)_

 _A used phone shop I think. It's kinda cracked. My brother picked it out._

 _(8:33 A.M.)_

 _damn idiot always dropped the thing when he was cooking._

 _Shit and I can't get in contact with him now until he gets back and I really needed for him to run out and buy shit…_

 _(8:34 A.M.)_

 _Why not just buy it yourself?_

 _(8:34 A.M.)_

 _I'm busy._

 _(8:34 A.M.)_

 _Or lazy?_

 _(8:34 A.M.)_

… _or I'm not allowed to drive._

 _(8:35 A.M.)_

 _Not allowed to drive?_

 _(8:35 A.M.)_

 _It's a long story._

 _(8:35 A.M.)_

 _Sounds boring._

Luffy shoved his phone in his pocket, turned on his side, and promptly fell asleep.

* * *

and yes! that was the first chapter! okay! yay!

there's gonna be more posted real soon but i have other fics working on too...but yeah. yeah. look forward to those.


	2. (2) New Messages

**Hello again. sorry for a slow update. School's a fighter. gonna try and aim for longer chapters, maybe.**

 **also got some other zolu works in the wings, look for those**

 **ANyway, enjoy. I don't own one piece and this fic is inspired from the inuyasha fic wrong number text thank u have a nice day enjoy the Read. also it's super late again so sorry for mistakes for this is unedited as per the norm**

* * *

Zoro was confused, pissed, but MOSTLY confused.

Brooding angrily by laying sprawled on the couch, stealing glances at the clock and telling himself that _No, Sanji will not be arriving sooner just because you're trying to slice the clock in half with your eyes, please give it up,_ and unlocking and relocking his phone every ten seconds, Zoro was confirmed for a shitty mood.

When the FUCK was the cook getting back?

Zoro raised his phone closer to his face, unlocking it once more and clicking through some apps and landing on his messages. The person who had Sanji's old number stopped texting hours ago after they deemed Zoro's story too long and too boring (frankly Zoro didn't want to explain it to a stranger anyway…) and Zoro frowned as he contemplated deleting the contact off his phone.

It wasn't like it was Sanji's anymore. It was just some person's. It could be an 87 year old or something. There really was no point in still keeping it…

"So why the hell am I hesitating?" Zoro muttered, his finger hovering over the delete button. There was something stopping him, he had no idea what it was but there was a feeling inside of him that just said keep the number.

Before Zoro could have his crisis-of-self last any longer, the door was pushed open and in waltzed Sanji, scowling and looking in a serious need of a nap or a good punch to the face to wake him up. Sanji walked over and practically fell back into their comfiest arm chair, digging in his pocket for his cigarettes and his lighter.

"You look like shit." Zoro smirked as Sanji flipped him off and lit a cigarette, taking a long drag of it. "School not go well for you?" Zoro asked, relocking his phone, his eyebrow raised.

"Don't even give me that shitty sarcasm, Marimo." Sanji growled, rubbing his visible eye. "I forgot how much I hated shitty highschoolers."

"You were one last year." Zoro pointed out smugly and Sanji gave him a pointed stare.

"A lot can change in a year, you absolute ass. Besides, In my senior year I was much more chivalrous and charming than any of those kids I saw there today." Sanji shook his head sadly, like he was mourning the loss of the potential that could've been found in those kids.

"Never use those words to describe yourself again. What even happened to make you hate them all so much on like…your second day interning or whatever there?" Zoro asked, and Sanji slumped into the chair, groaning.

"They kept trying to waste all this good food. Who does that, honestly?! A group left some leftovers in the culinary class and I was about to get blow my fucking gasket at them when all of the sudden this senior kid with a giant ponytail-afro-type thing runs back in and asks me for any leftovers I had. Apparently his best friend eats it all. So I give it to the kid and then I go to find some place to get a smoke and lo and behold I just find some weird kid just sleeping behind the gym." Sanji explained and Zoro blinked.

"Seriously? They were taking a nap behind the gym?"

"Yes. It was fucking weird, so I woke the kid up and he immediately explodes about how I woke him up and it's apparently rude to do that even though it's again the goddamn rules, but before I could even explain any of that, he just asks what time it is and I tell him it was like 12 in the afternoon. Then he just runs off yelling about food."

"Well, at least you know he's goal oriented?" Zoro offered, "Sorry your intern life is so shitty. I think this is karma for not buying more booze, by the way. And also changing your phone all of the sudden."

"Zoro, you SAW me drop my phone and see it shatter on our kitchen floor. Or were you too drunk to remember?"

"I haven't been drunk in weeks, Sanji."

"Then where the fuck does all our booze go? To your obsessive Saturday night marathons of shitty romance movies?"

"They aren't ALL shitty. And if you remember correctly, you stupid fucking piece of cheese, Robin came over a week ago and took like all of it for a party and you were too love struck by the fact that she even stepped into our apartment to notice that she made off with all the booze." Zoro deadpanned, giving Sanji a flat stare.

"I'm going to go shower. And you're getting rice balls without booze for dinner." Sanji grabbed the ash tray and put out his cigarette, standing up and walking away briskly, Zoro's shouts of how shitty Sanji is echoing after him.

Zoro frowned, contemplating getting up and talking a walk to the store to get some booze and maybe some more snacks, until he was interrupted by his phone vibrating insistently.

 _(5:35 P.M.)_

 _Do you know how to do really complicated math problems?_

Zoro read over the message twice. That mysterious person from earlier was texting him again. Zoro pursed his lips and sent:

 _(5:35 P.M.)_

 _Don't you have other people you could ask this?_

 _(5:36 P.M.)_

 _You were the first person I saw in my contacts and my brother isn't home :( help me!_

 _(5:36 P.M.)_

 _You're asking a complete stranger who you met over texts to help you do math._

 _(5:36 P.M.)_

 _Well are you a good stranger? :o_

 _(5:37 P.M.)_

 _I could easily lie and say I am? Do you not understand this?_

 _(5:37 P.M.)_

 _I don't think you're a bad guy! You don't seem to be._

 _What kind of bad guy can't drive, anyway?_

 _(5:37 P.M.)_

 _You could very easily be texting some 99 year old predator who's eager to figure out who this naïve kid texting them is._

 _(5:38 P.M.)_

 _Well are you a 99 year old?_

Zoro hesitated. He could easily mess with this kid, but…

Ah, fuck it.

 _(5:38 P.M.)_

 _No. I'm a college student._

 _(5:38 P.M.)_

 _A college student who can do math problems for a very confused high school senior? :D_

 _(5:39 P.M.)_

 _Nope. Failed math almost every year. Good luck on that one._

Zoro grinned, shoved his phone into his pocket and decided that maybe it would be pretty nice to go for a walk to the store.


	3. (3) New Messages

**hi there. did you miss me? here's an update. not my best. but it's here. cool**

* * *

"He's doing it again."

Nami blinked, looking up from peeling her tangerine and at Usopp, sitting next to her on the bench. "Who's doing what again?" She asked.

Usopp nodded at Luffy, who was humming happily to himself, kicking his feet in the air from his laying-down spot on the grass. In his hands, his cellphone. He was typing quickly, grinning all the while.

"Ohhh." Nami realized. "He's texting that weirdo, right?"

"The weirdo he insists isn't one. He still hasn't even asked for the guy's name." Usopp shook his head sadly, taking a bite out of the sandwich he had packed on their little outing.

It was a weekend, thank god, and Usopp had decided some well needed fresh-air chill time was called for, so they all conglomerated at the park for lunch. So here they all sat, and Luffy was on his phone in seconds when it had vibrated in his bag.

"What's he even trying to get out of this, anyway?" Nami wondered, watching Luffy scroll through some apps as he waited for a reply from the texting-guy.

"A good laugh?" Usopp offered, watching as Luffy did happen to snicker at something the texting-guy said when he replied.

"Hey, why're you guys whispering about me behind my head?" Luffy wondered, looking up at the two of them. "I'm not deaf!" He put down his phone and pouted. He had already eaten his lunch, Nami and Usopp were slow at eating, and it wasn't his fault that he had nothing better to do than to text the random number!

"Because you're ignoring us!" Usopp pointed out, and Nami looked at the phone resting on Luffy's chest before getting an idea.

Leaning down, taking one of her tangerine slices, she dangled it over Luffy's face with the offer for him to have some. Luffy, overtaken by the offer of food, quickly snatched it as Nami used her other hand to snatch his phone.

"Wh—Hey, hold on, That's mine!" Luffy complained, the deliciousness of the tangerine betraying his thought of how having his phone taken wasn't worth it. (It was worth it.)

"Let's just see what you and this stranger are texting, hmm?" Nami trilled, clicking on the messages icon.

 _(1:39 P.M)_

 _Hey. I'm bored as shit. Roomate's gone doing random ass stuff for this restaurant he works at. Entertain me._

 _(1:39 P.M)_

 _I don't like being told what to do! :o I like doing things my own way!_

 _(1:40 P.M)_

 _It was just an idea._

 _(1:40 P.M)_

 _Hmm…If you do want entertainment though, how about a question! What's your favorite food?_

 _(1:40 P.M)_

… _Rice, I guess? Booze. Booze and rice._

 _(1:41 P.M)_

 _You're boring._

 _(1:41 P.M)_

 _What, like yours is better?_

 _(1:42 P.M)_

 _MEAT IS THE BEST!_

 _(1:42 P.M)_

 _That's pretty boring too, you know._

 _(1:43 P.M)_

 _That hurts :( Nothing is better than meat!_

 _(1:44 P.M)_

 _You'll live._

"Is this all the stuff you guys talk about?" Nami deadpanned, bored. She wanted something interesting.

"Scroll down some more?" Usopp suggested.

 _(2:00 P.M.)_

 _What do you mean you're flexible?_

 _(2:00 P.M.)_

 _I can put my legs behind my head! And other things._

 _(2:01 P.M.)_

 _What the hell? You some kind of freak?_

 _(2:01 P.M.)_

 _No! Just bendy._

 _What kind of cool stuff can you do?_

 _(2:02 P.M.)_

 _I fight with swords._

 _(2:03 P.M.)_

 _REAL ONES?_

 _(2:03 P.M.)_

 _Yes, they're real._

 _I can also play piano. On a good day._

 _(2:03 P.M.)_

 _THAT'S SO COOL!_

 _What kind of songs do you know on piano! I can sing! What kind of sword tricks do you do? Can you SWALLOW A SWORD?_

 _(2:04 P.M.)_

 _Uhh…_

 _A lot of songs, that's cool, and I can fight with them so they're not really tricks. And I don't think I wanna try that._

Luffy snatched back his phone, plopping back down in the grass. "Don't take my phone without asking!"

"Wait, hold on, 3…2….1…" Usopp grinned, just as Luffy's phone vibrated. Luffy immediately opened the app, not wasting any time to reply.

Nami sighed.

What the hell were they gonna do about this?


	4. (4) New Messages

**hey there guys have an update i've got plans to update soon so no worries**

 **wrote this when i was upset btw. also not edited as per norm ya kno**

* * *

Something felt wrong today.

Zoro stared out the window of his apartment, frowning and trying to make sense of what exactly was wrong in this moment. He hadn't forgotten anything, he had already did his training and Sanji was out hanging out with Robin and Franky.

So what was wrong?

There was a heavy feeling in his chest, like he should be doing something, but what? This was something he couldn't place, and despite trying to focus on the rain for the last hour, the heavy feeling still stayed.

Maybe it was because his strange text-only friend hadn't responded to him all day despite multiple texts? That could it be it.

"…Whatever." Zoro grumbled, grabbing his jacket and an umbrella and setting out to go for a walk. Maybe that would clear his head. The park nearby would be pretty clear by now, considering it was pouring. Maybe he could just wander down there for a while.

It had taken him 20 minutes to walk to the park, despite it being 10 minutes away, and he will furiously refuse anyone who suggests he got lost.

Finally at the park now and launching into full wander-mode, he noticed the rain had gotten impossibly harder from earlier and was pounding furiously on his umbrella with big wet drops that made him wish he had brought his headphones to tune it out.

He was about to go lament further about this situation until he something stopped him out of the corner of his eye.

Down the other path, he noticed someone sitting on the bench with their knees pulled up and their forehead rested on them. They were gripping jean shorts with a very tight looking grip and their shoulders were shaking visibly.

They were also soaked to the bone.

Zoro blinked, wondering if it was someone homeless or someone who had gotten lost and separated from whoever they were with. Whoever they were, they looked cold and soaked to the very bone. Zoro turned, not really knowing what was coming over him but he walked over with quick strides to the lonely looking stranger.

Finally close enough to them, Zoro held out his umbrella over their head.

The person's shoulders became less tense as they looked up at the umbrella suddenly placed over them. Zoro noticed that they must've been out in the rain for a while, there was water dripping all down their face and their black hair was flat to their head, curling slightly in the bangs as they moved some out of their eyes, looking at Zoro now.

The stranger sniffled, and Zoro felt increasingly awkward as they just stared. He took this moment of silence to notice they were hardly dressed the part to walk in this weather, barefoot and in a red tank top that was now sticking to their skin. Around their neck was a worn out strawhat. They didn't look to be younger than 17, with tan skin and a strangely placed scar under their eye.

"Who…" The stranger started, their voice wavering as if they had just been crying, "Are you?"

Zoro hesitated. "Just a passerby." He grunted, before moving closer so his arm wasn't that far out and more relaxed as he continued to get himself soaked while covering the stranger with the umbrella. "Aren't you cold?"

The stranger paused before nodding.

"Do you live far away?"

Another nod.

Zoro sighed, really hoping this wasn't going to end badly or turn out creepy. "I live close by, so you can hang out there until the rain stops. If you want to, at least."

The stranger seemed to contemplate this for a little bit, closing their eyes and focusing on something in the distance for a bit, before nodding and standing. "Just lead the way." They smiled. "Lead the way, uh…"

"Zoro."

"I'm Luffy. You're getting soaked by the way."

Zoro just passed him the umbrella and pulled up his hood, starting off to his apartment. They were walking in silence, save for the rain and their footsteps, when Zoro suddenly frowned at Luffy.

"You trust too easily. How do you know I'm not a murderer?"

Luffy blinked wide (and slightly red and puffy) eyes at him. "Are you a murderer?"

"No, I'm a…" Zoro stopped, realizing the familiarity of this conversation. "I'm a college student." He finished. Luffy offered him a warm smile, stepping a bit closer so he could hold the umbrella over both of them. (It wasn't really working that well considering Zoro was at least 8 inches taller than Luffy.)

Zoro didn't mention at any moment on the walk home how he could see sadness in Luffy's eyes, and how something about him felt so familiar. He wasn't about to ask.

However, he did notice how that heavy feeling in his chest was now replaced with a warm one.

 _Wonder why?_

* * *

 **B)**


	5. (5) New Messages

**hi. this is my longest chapter. i've also started school so sorry if updates are even MORE later than already orz. i'LL TRY TO GET BETTER WITH MY UPDATES BUT ENJOY THIS LONG CHPATER**

* * *

It was when Luffy was sitting on Zoro's couch with a towel wrapped around his shoulders, wearing oversized clothes that weren't his, that Luffy realized Sabo was probably going to kill him.

Zoro was milling around the kitchen behind the living room, grabbing them something to drink and eat while they waited out this storm, turned his head when he heard Luffy flop sideways on the couch and groan loudly.

"…Something wrong?"

"I'm gonna die."

Zoro paused, blinking. "…How?"

Luffy sat up and turned to look at him, his eyes wide and stressed. "My big brother! He's a total worrywart, he's way overprotective of me and my future and how I act, even moreso sometimes than my GRAMPS, and if this storm keeps lasting like this, I'll be dead because I won't get home! Then when I DO get home, he'll kill me!" He exclaimed, waving his arms for good measure.

Zoro tossed him a can of soda and walked over to the living room, sitting next to Luffy on the couch with a bag of chips in his hand. Holding out the bag, he offered some to Luffy, who gladly shoveled in three fistfuls of chips before going on to explain more.

"To make it even worse, I didn't even tell him I was going out, and he's already so busy with his job and his weird friend group and the tests he has to go through…He's been through a lot and I just didn't want to worry him today, but look what I'm doing now. I sat in the rain for three hours and then now I'm sitting in some guy's house wearing his clothes and—" Luffy paused to grab more chips, "—Eating all his chips! …You have more, right?"

Zoro snorted, "Yes, I have more. But you mentioned something about worrying him today, is it something specific?" He wondered, before continuing, "You kind of looked like you were crying earlier when I found you."

Luffy pulled his knees up, wrapping his arms around them. He noticed for a moment that the sleeves of the sweatshirt fell over his hands, letting his fingers the only thing be shown. And how the shorts he wore currently had to be rolled three times before they didn't slide down his waist and sat comfortably.

"…Luffy?" Zoro prodded, and Luffy shook his head to focus once more.

"Right! Sorry. Let's see…" Luffy fell sideways once more, this time toward Zoro so his head was almost touching his leg. "About a year ago, me and my family got into a car accident. Some road rage driver hit us straight on. It was me, my gramps, and my two brothers." Luffy explained, "It was really scary and really fast. Gramps was perfectly fine, he's kind of like a human steel wall, and Sabo was hit in the eye with some glass stuff and got pretty scarred up there. I was…hurt really badly." Luffy's hand drifted up to his chest and gripped the material of the sweatshirt tightly.

"If…you don't want to continue telling me, it's fine." Zoro immediately said when he saw this, "If. It's too hard for you to explain, I mean."

Luffy shook his head, a little smile gracing his face. "No, I'm fine, don't worry. I bounce back from things quickly!" He nodded at Zoro, before laying on his back and looking at the ceiling. "Anyway…I got hurt really badly and had to be operated on quickly, cuz I was dying, but it didn't really matter to me in the moment when the car accident happened. The only thing that mattered to me is that I could hear, and I could hear that my brother Ace wasn't answering any of us."

Zoro felt like there was a rock in his stomach. He knew where this was probably headed.

"Gramps had pulled me and Sabo out of the car, I remember that. The bastard who hit us had just run away…But Ace…He wasn't in the car. He had flown out. He had gotten impaled pretty badly by something from the car, I can't remember what, I just remember blurry vision and a LOT of screaming." Luffy's voice was somewhat shaky now, his breath uneven. "He was the worst out of all of us. He was literally on the brink of death, I had some time, but he…Everyone thought he was dead. The ambulances came, people helped us out, and now here we are. I've a giant scar on my chest, Sabo's blind in one eye and Ace…Well, he's alive, but he lives with some friends instead of us. He's not doing well…He's still trying to heal from that day…but he's alive, at least." Luffy raised his hands up, seeing them shake as he made a valiant attempt to calm himself down.

Things were getting blurred again, he felt nervous and paranoid now, and like there was still blood on his hands from the whole accident…His scar ached and he felt dizzy, like he was in the situation again and—

There was a strong grip on his hands. Luffy blinked, his vision clearing up and tilted his head up to see Zoro leaning over him slightly and holding his hands. Zoro had a serious set to his eyes, which Luffy now noticed were a sharp blue color.

"Zoro?"

Zoro looked down at him, then quickly averted his eyes. "Sorry. You looked like you were about to freak, so I just…kind of did something my sister used to do for me when I was always about to get like that." Zoro pulled his hands away from Luffy's, as Luffy sat up and faced him.

"Your sister…Wait, did something happen to you, too?" Luffy looked stunned, Zoro nodding slowly.

"It was a long time ago. I had a friend who I'd practice my swordsmanship against, she was the best one I've ever met. She died the night of our final duel, putting the sword I asked her to use away. She fell down and broke her neck." Zoro clarified. "But…Not only that, but years later, Just about a year and a half ago, I also got a scar on my chest. It was an accident, completely. I was training with my Father, I slipped up, and got a giant slice right across my chest. I lived, as you can see, but he was really upset about it. After that, whenever I'd start freaking out about either of those things, my little sister, Perona, would come over to me and hold my hands." He shrugged. "It just kind of…grounded me."

"You're a swordsman?! With REAL swords?!" Luffy gasped. "That's amazing!"

"Not THAT amazing," Zoro shook his head, glad the subject was getting lighter. "I still have a long ways to go until I'm as good as Father, or someone like Ryuma."

"You said your Dad sliced your chest open? And you had a scar, right?" Luffy looked like he was about to fly off the couch with excitement. "Can I see? Preeetty please? Unless it bothers you, but it sounds really really cool looking! I've always loved swordsmen and seeing them battle and seeing like, the scars and stuff, because it's amazing how tough they can be!"

"Yeah, it's fine. I'm pretty much over what happened anyway. I saw it as something to make me stronger." Zoro wasn't about to question the strangeness of being asked to show his chest to someone he JUST met, he's seen Sanji have weirder experiences at clubs, so he tugged off his shirt without a moments hesitation.

As soon as Luffy stared in wonder at it, Zoro realized how awkward this would be if someone had walked in, Luffy's hand hovering over his chest, over the scar.

Luffy, meanwhile, was thrilled to be able to see such a thing. The scar a clean cut, direct slice from Zoro's shoulder to his waist, all raised and sharp looking. He could only imagine the battle that happened to get this, the trials Zoro had to go through..! Swordsmanship was always such an exciting topic for Luffy, as he grew up around one certain red-haired swordsman himself. Just as Luffy was about to ask if he could touch the scar…

"Hey, Marimo, I'm back. The rain was fucking killer, hope you caught a cold."

Zoro's shoulders tensed as he quickly whipped his shirt back on and turned to face the shocked face of Sanji, who looked at Zoro and then darted his eyes to Luffy, then back to Zoro.

"No. No fucking way. Impossible." Sanji began, taking off his raincoat slowly. "This is impossible."

"This isn't what it looks like." Zoro countered, "He was stuck in the rain. I was being nice. I took him in."

"Really? Because from here it looked like you were having another round in the rain with this shortie who's wearing things that I know can't be his, because they're like 80 sizes too big, Roronoa." Sanji put a hand on Zoro's shoulder, shaking his head. "I can't believe it…You finally got with someone…You got with someone before I got with someone! That just isn't right!"

"He's wearing my clothes because his were wet, Sanji. That's IT. I barely even know him. The most we did was eat your stash of chips."

Luffy tilted his head, running that name by him again. Sanji? Where had he heard that before? Leaning slightly so he could see past the tree that is Roronoa Zoro, he made a loud noise of shock, causing Zoro to jump and turn to look at him, pissed off, and Sanji to look confused.

"It's Mr. Curly, from culinary class!" Luffy declared, and Sanji took a step back.

"Monkey D. Luffy?! The kid who eats ALL the leftovers AND fails at cooking ANYTHING?!" Sanji pointed at him, then looked at Zoro. "You got with the guy who kept sleeping behind the building?!"

"I didn't get with him—"

"You're friends with Mr. Curly, Zoro?! He's so weird in class, he gets so angry all the time!"

"What do you mean Mr. Curly?!"

Zoro growled, pissed off now, turning on his heel and looking out the window. The rain had stopped. It was clearing up. Zoro briskly walked down the hall into his room where he had put Luffy's clothes in a bag, and where Luffy's phone was charging (After being dead) on his clock. Bringing all these things back into the living room, he dumped them into Luffy's hands. "Here." He grunted. "You don't want to keep your brother waiting. He's probably worried, like you said."

Luffy turned on his phone, hesitant to leave, only to be greeted by 12 missed calls and multiple angry text messages. He let out a big sigh, standing up with his clothes in hand. "You're right. I'll call him back and have him pick me up from here…" Luffy mumbled. He really wanted to hang out some more…

Zoro opened his door for Luffy, "Sorry about what happened, by the way."

"Mm?" Luffy tilted his head, then remembered. "Oh! Thanks. No worries though, It'll end up fine!" He nodded happily. "I'll be seeing you later, then! Thank you for having me! Sorry about your chips, Mr. Curly." Luffy laughed as he stepped out, waving to the both of them.

"Try not to sit in the rain again for three hours." Zoro replied before shutting the door once Luffy had made it half way down the apartment halls.

Luffy hummed to himself after he had finished calling Sabo, feeling a lot better than he did earlier. The rain was cleared, the sun was coming back out, and he had met someone new! Not to mention, Sabo wasn't that angry once he explained the situation.

There was only one thing left to do.

 _(5:57 P.M.)_

 _Sorry for never replying, mystery guy! I got caught up in a lot of stuff like life, and then I met someone really nice and we hung out and stuff. My phone also died._

 _(5:58 P.M.)_

 _That's fine. I met someone as well._

 _(5:58 P.M.)_

 _Really? That's good! What were they like?_

 _(5:58 P.M)_

… _Really nice. And Loud. They reminded me of you, in a way._

Luffy smiled, locking his phone for the time being. There was a strange happiness that Mystery-guy was reminded of him when he met other people. But this conversation brought another topic to his mind…

"I wonder when I'll actually be able to meet mystery-phone-guy?"


	6. (6) New Messages

**_hey there. school's kickin my ass._**

 ** _got a double update for ya, 1:36 AM, no beta reader, just bullshit from my brain right here_**

* * *

 _(4:45 AM)_

 _Do you think that reindeers can understand what we say and stuff?_

Zoro's in the middle of reading over sheet music while lying on his stomach in bed, when he gets this message. It's not very surprising, but he did just say goodbye to Text-Guy about 4 hours when he said he was going to bed.

 _(4:45 AM)_

 _I mean…maybe? What brought this on?_

 _Why are you even awake? Go to bed._

 _(4:45 AM)_

 _Don't scold me old man! :P_

 _(4:46 AM)_

 _Get off of my lawn._

… _Why are you asking about reindeers all of the sudden anyway?_

 _(4:46 AM)_

 _I met a reindeer earlier who really liked me! I talked to him and I think we're friends now._

 _I have named him Chopper._

 _(4:46 AM)_

 _Fascinating. Go to bed. Staying up this late isn't very healthy you know._

 _Also, you have school, don't you?_

 _(4:46 AM)_

 _ur no fun at all! I wanna keep talking to you!_

It's at this point, Zoro realizes maybe he shouldn't reply anymore and let Text-Guy sleep, and not distract him anymore, but…

 _(4:47 AM)_

 _Could you not sleep?_

 _(4:47 AM)_

 _I did for a little while! Now I'm awkae though and I want to talk to you!_

 _(4:47 AM)_

 _About what? Besides reindeers and their emotions._

 _(4:47 AM)_

 _Um…_

 _Idk maybe like…what's your life in college like? What are you interests whats your favorite color how do you feel about the world today whats your type of person youre interested in how do you feel about guys who wear makeup_

 _That kind of stuff?_

Zoro blinked at his screen. That was…quite an amount of questions. He and text-guy had never really gotten too deep into their personal lives, their conversations up until now had usually just been a regular shitstream of whatever is the first thing that would come to either of their heads.

Text-guy usually started it.

Zoro took a moment to sit up, push the sheet music towards the bottom of his bed, and get himself a bit more comfortable and focused on the conversation taking place in his phone. To be honest, he had been interested in text guy and what his life was like and what kind of things he liked to do and even the kind of people he was friends with, etc. etc. etc.

 _(4:48 AM)_

 _It's boring, but not bad._

 _I like music, swords, and sleeping. You kind of already knew that. I also like training in general._

 _My favorite color is red. Closely followed by green._

 _I think the world is kind of fucked up, I guess. I just live in it. whatever._

 _The type of person I'm interested in? people who are interesting to me. Hah_

 _And I don't really care? It's their life._

 _(4:48 AM)_

 _I wasn't expecting you to answer all of them! :oo_

 _give me a serious answer to your type :( I want to know!_

 _(4:49 AM)_

 _Why? Are you interested in me? Is this a discreet way of hitting on me?_

Zoro snorted. As if him and text-guy could ever get together, let alone meet.

 _(5:01 AM)_

 _Can't a man be curious? D: I'll tell you mine then! My type of person is people who I can FIGHT! Also if they're tall. And big. Like muscular-big, I mean._

 _(5:01 AM)_

 _Wow. Interesting. Fine, if you're going to tell me yours then I just like a person who I can trust, I guess. Something like that. Poetic shit I know_

 _(5:01 AM)_

 _Veeeeeeeryy poetic :PP_

 _(5:01 AM)_

 _Well, I answered all your questions. You answer them now._

 _(5:02 AM)_

 _aw you do care!_

 _Well I'm in highschool, so life is pretty drowning in that. I have this older brother who is super super protective and like really stressy on grades and stuff, so sometimes it can be hard bc I'm not a very good student! But I manage! Also I have really nice friends who help me._

 _I like meat, fighting, the ocean and everything about it, and fishing! Oh also sailing and that kind of stuff._

 _My favorite colors are pink and red! And yellow. And green. Mostly pink and red tho_

 _I already answered who I'm interested in, so_

 _And I can't say anything against guys who wear makeup bc I wear it too :D_

 _(5:03 AM)_

 _Cool. Thanks for all the info, I'll definitely need this later in my life. (this is sarcasm)_

 _But seriously go to bed okay_

 _(5:03 AM)_

 _Fiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiine_

 _Good night!_

Zoro locked his phone once more and stared at his ceiling, not bothering to pull up any blankets or even get the papers and folders off of his bed. Him and text-guy…Now that Zoro thought about it, it would be nice to meet him one day. On an off chance, or something. Or maybe if they plan it.

He had become more involved with this wrong number text than he had originally thought.

Zoro rolled onto his side, eyes roaming around the messy room barely lit by his tiny side-table desk lamp. Originally, his thing with text-guy was just supposed to be a quick "my mistake, see you never" kind of thing, but now…

Now he was looking forward to text-guys messages making his phone obnoxiously vibrate with a spam of food pictures, or just simple questions or hellos. He actively talked to him, humored him and wanted to know more and more as time went on.

He had made a really good friend, and now he wasn't sure if that was developing or not.

Zoro groaned, smacking his face with his palm and running it down. Fucking hell. This better not be what he thinks it is. ( _a crush!_ A very small and irritating voice in the back of his head reminded him.)

"You don't even know his goddamn NAME, Zoro. Get it together." He muttered to himself before clicking the lamp off and absolutely refusing to think about this anymore, in fear of any sort revelation coming to light.

In the dark, however, he did happen to make one simple observation.

"He kind of reminds me of that Luffy kid…"


	7. (7) New Messages

**chapter two of the double update. how rad right**

 **tHIS ONE is kind of long and BUILDING UP SOME STUFF so that's COOL ih op e it isn't too bad i am very tired**

* * *

If there was ever a time Luffy wished he knew where Mystery-Guy lived, it was now.

Pillowing his head on the table and whining, quite loudly, so all his friends could take notice, it was then Luffy decided that chorus was hell and he was stuck as a soloist in it.

"So, you can't find someone who plays the piano well enough in time for this…event or competition or whatever, and Brook can't do it because he's your teacher?" Nami questioned as she watched Luffy wallow in his misery and woe. "That's stupid." She added.

"It's very stupid!" Luffy shot up then, looking considerably angrier. "I have to do this for a competition, for our JUDGEMENT and all that important stuff, and our pianist just left! And Brook has to conduct and lead us all!"

"And there's nobody at all?" Usopp piped up, tilting his head.

"Not anyone that can learn all of our music fast enough. They'd have to be as skilled as our last pianist. And that guy was playing for years! So many of them! He was so good, but he just HAD to get sick." Luffy threw his hands in the air, rolling his eyes before slamming them back down on the table. "I'm upset."

Before Nami and Usopp could get a word in, Sanji slid right into a chair by Luffy smoothly.

"So, you need someone to play piano?" He asked, and Luffy immediately recognized him trying to put on the ~cool guy~ attitude, as Sanji brushed a hand through his hair and grinned in a way that would make any person attracted to him swoon.

Unfortunately for Sanji, Luffy wasn't interested, and Nami and Usopp were dating.

"Yeah, I do. Like really bad. Do you know someone?" Luffy looked hopeful, smiling all of the sudden. "Please tell me you know someone!"

"Well I," Sanji leaned forward, tossing a glance and smile at Nami before looking at Luffy. "Do happen to know a certain piano player, who you've met. Green hair…tall…a giant piece of shit…"

Luffy blinked, and Sanji could visibly see him trying to put the pieces together for this one, trying to make the connection as to who this "Giant piece of shit" was.

"Oh! You mean Zoro!" Luffy made a fist and slapped it down on his open palm, nodding. "Wait, he plays piano?"

"He doesn't fucking stop. It kills me. Don't worry, I'll have him over by tomorrow for your next practice, whether he likes it or not!"

The next day, as Sanji promised, He arrived in the chorus room after school with a certain mosshead, looking generally pissed off at the world and like he had just rolled off the couch from a long nap. He had his hands shoved in the pockets of his black sweatpants, and the shirt he wore was old and gray, worn out with age, the sleeves rolled up to make it look like a tank top instead of a t-shirt.

"I fucking hate you, you know?" Zoro grumbled as they sat down and waited for Luffy and whoever else to arrive. "I was having a really good nap."

"You'll thank me one day, I'm sure." Sanji shrugged as he lit a cigarette, "Besides, it's not like you had classes or something later. And you seemed pretty keen on helping the kid before…"

"There's a difference, he was cold and alone and I wasn't about to abandon him or some shit!" Zoro snapped, crossing his arms. "This is fucking charity work!"

"And you're one charitable guy, remember that one time you had to take care of all those babies just because you couldn't say no to them? Those kids who helped you? Because I do. It was hilarious."

Zoro couldn't even get in a retort before the door literally slammed open, and in tumbled Luffy, who was looking worn out and panting heavily. Zoro sat up straighter, paying much more attention now. As he did this, however, he instantly wished he looked better than…this, because with the way that Luffy looked? There was no way Zoro could even compare in any sort of way.

Even though he had obviously just been rushing and running his way here, his hair looked perfectly as the natural wavy curls he had framed his face just right, and the school uniform he wore fitted him all too well. Lace up boots with red pants rolled up to his knees and a dark blue button up that wasn't tucked in, the first two buttons undone, a worn strawhat hanging off his neck by a string.

Zoro wanted to sink back into his seat. Fuck this.

Luffy turned and smiled at the two of them, and Zoro felt his heart stop. How had he not noticed this before?! Why is it that he had to find himself in this situation now, even when he barely knew him?

"Sanji, Zoro! I'm late, sorry! I had to run back and then run here to grab my bag because I almost forgot something really really important!" Luffy set his bag down on a table nearby and dug around to the bottom, pulling out two articles of clothing, both of which seemed far too big. "Ta-daa! It's Zoro's clothes!"

Luffy smiled again and handed the clothes off to Zoro. Zoro then knew, he was totally fucking screwed, all because Luffy was actually gorgeous and currently reminding Zoro of how gay he really is.

"Well, I'm not needed here. Text me when you're done with this, Marimo. " Sanji stood up, bidding goodbye to Luffy and heading out while Zoro silently screamed for him to come back because he cannot be in this situation alone, he cannot just be left alone with a cute guy and expect to come out of it perfectly fine.

"We can't waste any time, Zoro! I'm gonna give you the music, you look over it, and then you can play and I'll listen! Got it?" Luffy explained quickly, digging around in his bag again before he pulled out some somewhat-crumpled music sheets for a song called "Ocean Guide". "This is our main song, I sing it."

Zoro took the music and glanced over it. It was pretty simple, easily done for him honestly. Wordlessly, he got up and started toward the piano, trying to shove down the excitement of getting to play something other than the wads of music shoved under his bed. Sitting down and tapping some of the keys experimentally just to get the feel of it down, he placed the music on the stand, and began to play the song.

Sight-reading was always one of his strong points, especially for simple songs, even if he had never heard it before.

Letting his fingers dance over the piano keys with ease as he fell into his natural element, he let himself go. He could only focus on the song and music and the notes in front of him, nothing else. The song was decidedly beautiful, slow and calming, almost like a lullaby.

About halfway through the song, he barely noticed Luffy was singing. His voice was light and high, but peaceful. Zoro guessed he was probably a natural-born singer with a fucking gigantic lung capacity, and he didn't take kindly to the thought that whispered to him, "His voice is beautiful." Because it was.

But he wasn't about to admit that.

The song ended and Luffy opened his eyes, having closed them through the impromptu performance, and turned to look at Zoro, giving him two thumbs up and a "Nice, Zoro!"

Zoro just grinned. "My pleasure."

And at that moment, Zoro had no idea what struck him, but he felt like he needed to tell text-guy about this. Pulling out his phone and unlocking it as Luffy wandered off to find more music in the room so they could continue, he unlocked his phone and typed out his message.

 _(3:35 PM)_

 _People who sing are pretty impressive._

Pocketing his phone and leaving it at that, he was content to continue tapping at piano keys, until he heard it.

The sound of an airhorn blaring from Luffy's pocket. Just seconds after he had sent his message. Zoro watched curiously as Luffy visibly brightened when he saw who had messaged him, eagerly and quickly replying back. From here, Zoro couldn't read the recipient's name.

In his pocket, his phone vibrated.

* * *

 **haha yeah i went there. also yeah i do'nt know how chorus works, i was in band.**

 **hope this chapter wasn't too bad, i'm really tired, hope yall liked it aaaaaaaaaaaand i've got some other fics in mind i might be starting soon? this guy right here might be on it's last legs, as you can tell by the BUILD UP RIGHT THERE**

 **anyway. have a good day**


	8. Would you like to rename this contact?

**_It's the last chapter. Have fun. It's longer and i'm tired._**

* * *

 _(2:29 PM)_

 _Do you want to meet up? I'm kind of assuming we live in the same town._

 _(2:29 PM)_

 _YEAH! How do you know if we live in the same place? :o_

 _(2:30 PM)_

… _Just a gut feeling._

Contrary to the popular belief (spread mostly by Sanji), Roronoa Zoro was not stupid.

…Okay, he was kind of dim, but he wasn't stupid enough to pass off that situation with Luffy getting a text just as soon as he sent the mystery-number a text as a complete coincidence. It had been months since the incident, and he had known and hung out with Luffy for quite some time now, but he just couldn't get it out of his head.

There was also mystery-number. They had known each other for a good amount of time, not to mention they knew quite a bit about each other now that they had just been spending nights talking. Mystery-Number knew all about Zoro's strange obsession with rewatching reruns of sex comedy shows, and Zoro knew all about Mystery-number's affinity for fishing. In all honesty, it was a bit of a surprise that they didn't try to meet each other beforehand, but now Zoro had a hypothesis to test.

Was Luffy the mystery-number?

Zoro absently lifted a weight in one hand while he scrolled through social media on his phone in the other, waiting for any sort of response from mystery-number-probably-luffy. There was many benefits to this situation. One being that if Luffy was this mystery number, Zoro wasn't going to have to figure out if he wanted to get with mystery number or if he wanted to get with Luffy.

He had come to terms with the fact that yes, he was extremely crushing on the teen about a few weeks back when Nami and Usopp (his odd friends who have way too much time on their hands) bombarded Zoro's apartment, waving hello to Mr. Curly, Luffy following in behind them and declaring a movie night. Sanji, too distracted by the girl being well…a girl, didn't even bother to try and reason against this, and that is how Zoro found his Friday night be taken up by some high school seniors on his couch, floor and chair, yelling about what movie to watch.

Luffy had seated himself next to Zoro on the couch, Usopp had fallen back into a very comfy armchair, Nami had taken to the floor leaning up against Usopp's legs, and Sanji laid down on the floor with a pillow as his companion. The movie chosen was some sort of romance movie first (at the insistence of Nami, and the silent head nod of Zoro as it was secretly in his collection of favorites that nobody should ever know about), and they all sat around comfortably, throwing snacks at eachother and discussing clichés among other things.

It was kind of strange, becoming such fast friends with them, but Zoro could've sworn he probably knew them in a past life or something, making the process all the easier.

They were on their fourth movie at about 4 in the morning, Sanji face down into his pillow, sleeping away the fight scenes being displayed, Nami holding tight to one of Usopp's legs and her head bouncing up and down as she tried to fight it, and Usopp had straight up fallen into dream land at about 2 am.

This left Luffy and Zoro being the only two still very awake.

"Shouldn't we just stop the movie and all go to bed?" Zoro asked quietly once he realized Nami had finally given up. "Everyone's passed out."

"Do we have to?" Luffy whined, "This was getting really good! I wanted to see if she could actually save that guy from dying or not…"

"We can, in the morning." Zoro persisted. He wasn't really tired at all, 4 am was his usual bedtime, but for the good of the guests (read: For the good of not wanting to wake up Sanji and Nami and have to deal with how they will be without a lot of sleep), he was pretty this was a good idea.

Luffy sunk low in his seat, pouting but the lack of response meant he was complying. Zoro grabbed the remote and turned the movie off, along with the tv, leaving them in darkness.

"I'll get the cook, you get Nami actually on somewhere better than the floor. I'll chuck some pillows their way or something." Zoro shrugged as he got up, leaning down to where Sanji was sleeping on the floor, and proceeding to repeatedly shove his shoulder until he woke up and was being ushered to bed by Zoro.

Nami woke up with relative ease, climbing onto the couch and immediately passing out again, and Usopp was just a lost cause. Zoro, true to his word, dropped a pillow and a blanket on Nami, and just put a blanket on Usopp.

This left Luffy.

"I'm not tired." Luffy said as soon as Zoro approached him, crossing his arms and pouting, "I'm not tired at all, Zoro!"

"That so?" Zoro raised an eyebrow, "Then just come hang out in my room. I wanted to look over some stuff anyway."

Luffy grinned brightly at this, following with quick steps into Zoro's room where he immediately flopped face first onto Zoro's green sheets, claiming one of the pillows as his own. Luffy wiggled over so his back was against the wall, facing front toward Zoro, looking extremely comfy.

"I thought you said you weren't tired?" Zoro smirked as he laid down next to Luffy, head on the pillow not currently being crushed by Luffy's arms.

"Just because I'm not tired doesn't mean I can't get comfy!" Luffy laughed, nuzzling his face into the pillow and then lifting his head up with a refreshed sounding gasp. "See? Comfy!"

They laid there for a while, talking about everything and nothing, getting on the topic of Luffy's brother Sabo who most certainly almost crushed in his little brother's skull because this plan tonight was so…well, unplanned and abrupt. Luffy told Zoro about how he managed to ward him off, convince him he was fine ("I'm turning 18, like, next month!" He had repeated, multiple times.) And let him go with Nami and Usopp. He also talked about Ace, the recovering brother who apparently was doing a lot better, and smiling a lot more.

Zoro talked about recent music sheets he's found, and his sword training, which fascinated Luffy. He also talked about his own family, his annoyingly rich family, including his little sister Perona who he described as a pain in his side but sometimes not.

This went on until about 6 in the morning, where Luffy's eyes started to droop and his postured got more relaxed. Zoro had poked him a couple of times to keep him awake, until all efforts were futile and he had fallen asleep in Zoro's bed, snoring lightly.

Zoro was at the point where he probably couldn't sleep now, for his body was too set for waking up this early instead of going to sleep this late, so he just laid there coming to terms with the fact that he had the guy who he was slightly interested in sleeping his bed.

Now the way Luffy slept wasn't probably considered cute to most people, certainly not people like Roronoa Zoro, for Luffy slept with his mouth wide open, drool coming out of the side, pillow shoved above him and legs a twisted mess. It wasn't until Luffy seemed to realize he was cold, and there was a giant furnace of a 19 year old next to him, so the most obvious thing to do is wiggle over and attach.

Zoro finds himself with Luffy's forehead on his shoulder and his arms wrapped tightly around Zoro's own arm. This is when he realized.

He has got it really fucking bad for Monkey D. Luffy.

So, coming to terms and reassuring himself that yes, he wasn't lying to himself, he did want to date this guy, this is how Zoro finds himself trying to test the hypothesis.

 _(2:33 PM)_

 _So where are we going, what does your mystery feeling tell you?_

 _(2:33 PM)_

 _There's this place that only exists in this town. A really dinky and kind of rough bar. The Baratie. You heard of it?_

 _(2:34 PM)_

 _This guy I know, Mr. Curly, works there sometimes I think! I know it really well, I've been a couple of times! Good meat._

Zoro sucked in a breath. That almost proved it, with the nickname Sanji had been given…Granted it could just be another one in the culinary class, but…Zoro had hope, for once.

 _(2:34 PM)_

 _Let's meet there, if that's alright. At…4:00?_

 _(2:34 PM)_

 _That sounds fine! I will see you then, mystery guy!_

 _/_

"Luffy, you're not seriously going to do this, are you?" Sabo's voiced had a worried twinge to it, a frown on his face as he watched his little brother root around for an outfit to wear.

"Nope, I am!" Luffy smiled at his brother before going to back to his clothes, his nose wrinkling in disgust at some of the old choices he found, tossing them carelessly behind him. "I'm gonna meet mystery guy today. It's going to be great."

"What if it's NOT great? What if he's a creeper, or some guy trying to prey on you!?" Sabo pointed out and Luffy stared at him like he was stupid.

"…I'll just kick their ass? Duh?"

Sabo groaned.

Luffy sighed at this, dropping the clothes he has holding and walking over to his brother sitting on his bed. He plopped on the ground in front of him, resting his chin on one of Sabo's knees.

"Sabo, I love it that you care about me so much and I understand that…with what happened in the accident, you wanna take care of me! But have faith, okay? I can handle myself fine!" Luffy pat his brother's arm, trying to soothe the worries he felt.

Sabo let his hand drift to Luffy's head, ruffling it affectionately, "I know. I'm sorry. You got this, I just have to remind myself sometimes. You're not my 12 year old idiotic brother who gets himself locked in a closet for a day."

"It was ONE TIME!"

Sabo laughed, reliving Luffy slightly. "Now then." Sabo clapped his hands together, nodding, "We need something that'll make you have a good impression but also make you seem hard to get!"

/

4 o clock, outside of the Baratie, Zoro sat on a bench bouncing his leg continuously. He had gotten here way early, on account of his directional habits and the lack of a car, and now all he had to do was wait.

"Oh! Zoro!"

Speak of the devil and they shall come, apparently.

Luffy waved at him excitedly as he jogged up to the man, and Zoro took a moment to admire the outfit Luffy had on. A black jacket with a blue shirt decorated with clouds, and brown shorts with lace up boots. It was simple, but still very stylish and suited him nicely.

Zoro stood up and couldn't help but grin when Luffy smiled at him, halting in front of him.

"What're you doing here? I'm supposed to meet someone and they said 4…" Luffy explained, looking around the area. "It doesn't help I have no idea what they look like, though!"

Zoro was about to fucking burst. He was right. Luffy was totally the mystery number. Pulling out his phone, Zoro quickly typed out a text.

 _(4:01 PM)_

 _If you're looking for me, I'm the one with the green hair._

The airhorn of Luffy's phone blared, and he pulled it out hastily.

"The one with the green…" He read outloud, eyes widening as he looked up at stared at Zoro's hair, then the phone in his hand. Luffy looked back at his phone, typing away.

 _(4:01 PM)_

 _Could your name be Roronoa Zoro?_

 _(4:02 PM)_

 _Yeah. Is yours Monkey D. Luffy?_

"YOU'RE the mystery number?!" Luffy exclaimed as he took in all the information going on. Zoro nodded, a bit sheepishly.

"I didn't tell you before because I wasn't actually…sure, until now." Zoro explained to him as Luffy bounced on his toes In excitement.

"This is so exciting! I can't believe it's been you the whole time, and we already know each other so well and stuff! This works perfectly, it's like a movie or something!" Luffy declared, nodding happily.

Zoro shifted from foot to foot. "Well, since we got that out of the way now, and there's not a problem with it…"

Zoro held out his hand, "Want to go out with me, mystery number?"

Luffy stopped bouncing, and his smile got gentler as he grabbed Zoro's hand and laced their fingers together, pulling him closer.

"I'd like that very much, mystery guy."

 _(4:48 AM)_

 _oi where's the kitchen_

 _(4:48 AM)_

 _go to bed, zoro._

 _(4:49 AM)_

… _.alright._

* * *

 ** _and there it is, the fic is done. no, i'm not doing anything else with this fic, minus some minor editing i'll do tomorrow probably because it's like. almost 1 am here!_**

 ** _anyway, i wanted to get this bad boy done because i had some ideas for new fics coming up and i always feel bad starting new fic when i have one in the works. so that's why this guy just abruptly stopped, but hey, i think it was time._**

 ** _hope you enjoyed this little tiny zolu thing. i enjoyed it, it was a good test-the-waters type of thing! kind of a practice to get back into the habit of writing more._**

 ** _anyway. see you again soon._**


End file.
